The first graphic adventure by Tim Schafer in sixteen years, Broken Age began in a historic, record-breaking Kickstarter campaign. Now it's here in all its beautiful, 2D, hand-painted glory, with an original orchestral soundtrack and an all-star vocal cast. Broken Age is a timeless coming-of-age story of barfing trees and talking spoons.

Recommended By Curators

Reviews

“Act 1 of Broken Age is a gorgeous, impeccably written adventure that simultaneously tugs at my nostalgic core, while ushering in a new era for the point-and-click genre.”
9.5 – IGN

“...delightful, beautiful, utterly charming and you really should play it right this second.”
9 – Polygon

“I haven’t felt this surge of nostalgia and excitement about a game in a long time, and I truly think Broken Age will be looked back fondly as one of the greats.”
9.5 – Destructoid

About This Game

The first graphic adventure by Tim Schafer in sixteen years, Broken Age began in a historic, record-breaking Kickstarter campaign. Now it's here in all its beautiful, 2D, hand-painted glory, with an original orchestral soundtrack and an all-star vocal cast.

Broken Age is a timeless coming-of-age story of barfing trees and talking spoons. Vella Tartine and Shay Volta are two teenagers in strangely similar situations, but radically different worlds. The player can freely switch between their stories, helping them take control of their own lives, and dealing with the unexpected adventures that follow.

They said adventure games were dead, but then Broken Age punched its hand out of the grave and grabbed you by the wrist and you screamed just like in the end of Carrie except what you screamed was "I love adventure games so much!" And sorry I spoiled the end of Carrie.

Act 1 is available now, and the act 2 conclusion will arrive as a free update early this year!

Key Features:

Pointing

Clicking

Original soundtrack, composed by Peter McConnell, recorded by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Nice game, or to say it better "nice half game". I still wonder where all the money went. As another user said "They asked for $400,000 to make a complete game. They got $3,336,371 instead and only managed to make HALF a game with it. " and he forgot the money they made from the steam sales.

Update 10/12/2014"The next half is coming out early next year."

Thats not the point. Mr Tim crowfound a game, get 8 times what he asked for (and more from sale since release) and delivered HALF game with the same feature of a low budget adventure game and the promise of the other HALF "soon".Soon became one year later (maybe). The fact that his company started to create more games at the same time should make anyone wonder if the money from kickstar have gone in this game (a 5 hour (soon 10?) adventure with no more asset than a low budget 20hours adventure) or in others Mr Tim projects.Do the word "ethics" still mean something to someone else out there?What happend recently to another Mr Tim game (Spacebase DF-9) should be a clear evidence of what kind of business we are dealing with here.But everyone is free to think different.I'm still waiting for Mr. Tim giving us an insight on this project and how the money where spent, havent heard from him since he stated in an interview that "the second half of the game is founded thanks to the first part sales". Glad to ear that 3.3 milions wasn't enough for this masterpiece man.

Not worth the current price at all. Took me 2 hours to beat, the puzzles are non-existant and I only got half a game. When the other half comes out then maybe get it, but not right now.Save your money and get something better.

I recommend the game if you're either totally in it for the story, OR if you're academically interested in the genre. It will be interesting to see where Broken Age lies in the history of adventure games and interactive storytelling.

But overall, the game itself is actually kind of hit and miss. I'd have to wait to see if the second half really ties it together before giving it a solid general recommendation.

The puzzles are...whatever. Nothing stood out as particularly clever or interesting. I think part of the problem was that problem space to work with was always so small that matching puzzles to their solutions was straightforward. It was very linear for an adventure game. The dual-story thing was an interesting idea, mechanically, because it lets the player progress along different lines if they're feeling stuck on something. However, that idea was kind of wasted on a game as "narrow" as this.

Speaking of the story, thumbs up. It's interesting and pretty unique, and maintains a feel of wonder and mystery, as you try to piece everything together. The dual-story contributed to that a lot. The world was filled with neat characters; by that I mean they weren't particularly likeable or memorable, but they were distinct and well conveyed. There's a lot in the world that I'm still curious about, but I feel like this is one of those things where if the payoff in the conclusion isn't good, it'll just spoil everything up to that point.

The game isn't funny. It's humorous, sure. The characters have a sense of humor, and there are jokes, and it doesn't take itself too seriously, but it's not a comedy, which is disappointing for a project funded on the dream of classic Tim Schafer adventure games.

The art is downright stunning. It's amazing how well the visuals, the animation, and the sound blend seamlessly into such a cohesive style.

Kickstarted this game. They asked for $400,000 to make a complete game. They got $3,336,371 instead and only managed to make HALF a game with it. The money is already gone. Double Fine used to be a name associated with fun, quirky, and experimental games but now it's becoming synonymous with bad project management.

The game itself is cute, has a nice visual style, but as far as point-and-click adventure games go it's almost too easy to really enjoy it. Sure, the hunting for a single pixel stuff from some of the old games in the genre was stupid, but this jumped into the other ditch at times.

3 Years since I kickstarted this game, no complete game. Near radio silence from the developers. No solid information on a release date. The "monthly" documentary from the kickstarter is reliably late weeks or even months late. There was a few funny parts in this game, but it seemed geared towards children. After this and the Space Base DF-9 fiasco I'll never purchase another DoubleFine product again.

When I got this game, it was priced at $16.99 and I thought it would be a good deal. I was worried about getting a game that was going to be split into two parts, but with that sale and the great things I've heard about it, I decided to pick it up. Here are my thoughts:

Positives:1. The Art Style- This is the one thing anyone who's played this game (loving it/hating it) can agree with. The backgrounds remind me of a beautiful painting with unique settings, esspecially the sky level and the characters give off a creative design that you'd probably see on an art Tumblr (hopefully you won't land yourself on the political side of Tumblr).2. The Voice-Acting- If there's a trend I've been getting scared of, it would be big actors in animated films and video games. To make a long story short, there's a major difference between an actor and a voice actor; actors can interact with others and an environment to help potray their characters and they can get away with playing themselves in movies and shows (example: John Malkovich). Voice actors can sometimes interact with others, but usually they have to act by themselves with the added difficulty of not being able to interact with an environment. And the voice actors have to potray a character. They can play the same character or similiar characters (whatever fits their talents), but (for example) Troy Baker can't just play Troy Baker, unless the story (mainly fanfic) calls for it. What I'm getting at is that an actor can have trouble translating their style to acting into another style (example: Bruce Willis in Apocalypse), and it's even worse when it seems like they don't care and they're only doing it for the paycheck (example: Megan Fox in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen [which she won an award for best performance by a human female, seriously]). But there are actors who can voice act and this game is a great example for that (see reincorporation). People like Elijah Wood and Jack Black pull a great performance for their characters and the rest of the cast are great as well. Okay, enough ranting, next point.3. The Side Characters- If you're wondering about my thoughts on the main characters, I'll talk about them eventually. But I enjoyed the side characters, they're not three-dimensional characters, but they're charming none the less.4. Music- It's peaceful and calm. Nothing worth buying the soundtrack, but it works in-game.

Overall, the presentation excels in visuals and sound. But there are postives, there are negatives. And the negatives are where things go wrong.

Negatives:1. Predictable Story- I'm not going to spoil the story, so don't worry. My problem with the story is that it's predictable with little to mix it up. The moment a character appeared in the game, I knew exactly what was going to happen to the last detail, and I was right. I felt cheated out of a game that was trying to surprise me with twists. The twists could have been examined to bring up interesting ideas, but the next negative made it so that wasn't the case.2. The "Split into Multiple Parts" Trope- Something that I've noticed in recent years in movies is the separtation of a hollywood blockbusters (particularly the finale of an overrated book series) into separtate movies. To me, this is only done to make more millions that the original was going to make and this game seems to be taking that idea for its advantage. The game doesn't have enough to split it into two parts, it feels like one whole game halved to make two games, which doesn't allow the game to fully develop its story, without playing both separtate games. And there's not that much in this one game.3. Length- This game took me 4.5 hours to complete. 1.5 hours of that being completely lost, only to end realizing that the game lied to me. Seriously. I combined two items together, then I tried every combination, then I went out searching for an item that I met have missed, didn't find anything, then I checked a walkthrough to realize that the two items I used before is the right answer (and it didn't make any logical sense [Seriously, Ladder shoes?!]). I even hear the people completed the game in 2 hours, a game that cost $25, half of a game that cost $25. I feel ripped off.4. Gamplay- Aside the part where I got lost, the gameplay is so basic and bland that completing a 4.5 hour game was made even more a challenge on the psyche and it doesn't help the character walks so slow. There are no extra puzzles, no riddles, just walking and finding items. 5. The Main Characters- As much as I praised the voice acting, even noting Elijah Wood's performance as the main character, I can describle the main characters in a short describation. Shay is the princess with an overbearing king (this time it's changed to a mother-figure) who wants more. Vella is the strong independent woman who don't need no man. That's it. Even at times, they can get annoying, esspecially Shay.

My Overall Thoughts:Not only am I disappointed in this game, I'm down right pissed. This game left me with such a dirty taste in my mouth, that I can't play the second part of the game. Especially when it's sold separate. There are way better point-and-click games out there, ones that have a better story, better characters, and most of all cheaper. But if you are interested in the game, a word of advice; Do not buy this full price and wait until the second part comes out.

Don't bother. The biggest complaint everyone has about this is that you're buying half a game, but really it feels more like just a prologue. The four hours I have on record are two playthroughs. Sure, the art is nice, but not almost 4million dollars worth- which is how much kickstarter funding this game got BEFORE it was sold on steam. Maybe it will be worth playing when it's completed, but after waiting a year for the second half, I've just lost interest.

I really would like to recommend this beautiful marvel, but there are so many problems attached to it.Imagine the Mona Lisa but with only one half of the smile and everything else missing. There is just a sticky note saying "coming soon". You can clearly see, this note has dust on it.

Get this image? That's Broken Age for you. And "Broken" could not be more fitting.

[this review may change if episode 2 comes out, but I do not expect this to happen in 2015]

i just can't recommend this game, its too short, its too easy, and its been way to long since any information has come out about the second part. This game has such a pretty art style and amazing voice acting and well crafted storys. However, WHERE THE HELL IS THE REST OF THE GAME. If and when the second act comes out i will change the review to include the rest of the game. ALSO WHY ARE GAMES THESE DAYS BEING CUT UP AND FORCE FED TO US IN LITTLE FREAKEN PIECES STOP THIS ♥♥♥♥!

EDIT: 2/3/2015It has now been over one year since this game was released, at this point I don't think I can recommend this game even when the next part comes out. This could have been such a good game but Double Fine has pulled a bait'en switch, no matter how good the second half of the game is, no matter how long it is, the fact is that Double fine took my money for game that wasn't done and made me wait for a YEAR for any kind of news to come out. NO, COMPLETE YOUR GAME DAMMIT, DON'T EXPECT ME TO BY INTO YOUR ♥♥♥♥ EXCUSES. Double fine you had the money, you had the fan base, and you didn't deliver. I can and won't excuse this kind of practices anymore, this review will always be not recommended no matter what. I may not even finish your game because in all honesty I've lost all interst in the story and game.

Don't buy this. It's just the first half of the game (which you can finish under 2 hours) and it doesn't look like the other half will ever come out so far. The store page also hides this fact as well.

This is an interesting little game. You start out with the option to choose between two characters, and you can either play one plotline through to its conclusion, or you can jump back and forth between the stories at will. I found that if I was stuck on a particular puzzle, I would hop over to the other character for awhile to clear my head.

For the most part, the puzzles are incredibly easy. If I was stumped it was either because I was over-analyzing the situation, or it was because I failed to pick up an item earlier in the game and needed to backtrack.

The hand-painted character designs, locations, and background art are completely unique and absolutely beautiful. I would recommend playing through for the visuals alone.

I also really dig the musical score.

Navigating around each location can be a bit of a slog, but double-clicking will expedite your characters' movements.

There is a fair bit of humor, more so in Shay's story than Vella's. Make sure to talk to everyone, examine everything, and to use each object with every other object/person in order to get all the flavour dialogue. The spoon and knife are particularly amusing.

The one thing that kind of spoiled this game for me is the story. I really like the mixture of sci-fi and fantasy elements, and the brain-twisting continuity implications of Act I's resolution, but I was so turned off by Vella's plot maguffin that it started to sour the rest of the game. I guess I'm just bitter they couldn't come up with an interesting plotline for her that didn't involve violence towards women of the worst trope kind. (I honestly didn't care much for the portrayal of the other females in her story, either.) ::sigh:: Although, my husband played through the game, too, and he thought both stories were pretty well balanced, with an overarching theme of teenagers rejecting outdated authoritarian policies in favour of thinking for themselves, and a subplot of contrasting physical harm with emotional harm. I guess it's subjective, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth.

When Double Fine went to Kickstarter, it constantly reminded us of the past great adventure games like Grim Fandango and Day of The Tentacle to get people (including me) to contribute. So why is the "final" product NOTHING like these games? The graphical style alone has divided people but the rest of the game feels nothing like the old Lucas Arts adventures - the comedy is lacking, the puzzle quality is lacking, the colourful characters are lacking, the wacky art style is lacking ... it's just ... dull. And to realize how much money they blew on making this game when other Kickstarter games like Tesla Effect did much MUCH more with far less money, it makes you wonder what on earth happened.

The free adventure game "Host Master" was a far better game than this and it didn't cost 3 million dollars to make. Not only is Broken Age proof that quality games are not made by a single "big" name but rather by talented teams, it's also proof that lots of funds can still leave you with only half a game with an indie feel and look that realistically barely even covers 10% of the amount they raised.

I decided to give this game a try because of the artwork. It was your basic sort of puzzle solving game. The art is really great and the stories kinda-ish interesting, but the game didn't really hook me in terms of gameplay. Not unlike 'The Cave', which operated in a similar way and which I enjoyed a whole bunch. I honestly don't get why 'The Cave' and its puzzle solving was so enjoyable and this game's wasn't, but that's the way it is. In the end, I feel kinda bad for giving this game a thumbs down because it's really not THAT bad, but it didn't manage to be good enough to stay in my memory.

I really like the way the game looks. But I find it incredibly boring. All these never ending dialogs, replays and terribly slow gameplay. I think I could've enjoyed the game if I was 12 years old, but now it seems too slow and boring for me. I thought I liked slow games that don't really need too many actions from the player, but this one is too slow even for me. Sorry.

Not happy with the way it was released.It was not sold as half a game. It's a pretty good game, but $30 is a lot fo money for a 4 hour game.Hopefully act 2 is longer. Maybe once ths game is fully released I can change my review.Should have been sold as early access, but frankly I wouldn't want to help Double Fine finance anything considering how they've been treating their kickstarter backers.